British Expatriate Network

Some less-than positive comments about the English football team's World Cup exploits ... 'Cardiff-born Humphrys, 58, who presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, told a gathering of Scottish businessmen the team were a "bunch of precious t**s".'

Source
http//news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/wales/newsid_2055000/2055318.stm

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by UK_Meets_USA on 2002-06-21 1326 ]</font>

What is that censored word? I can't make a swear word that has enough letters to match the stars lol

In your quoted article, the word is "t*****s".

Ah I got it now - as in what you do to salads - not used that term in years smile
_________________
Keeper of the sacred words Ni, Ping, and Nee-womm!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by pilgrim_007 on 2002-06-21 1625 ]</font>

It's just sour grapes. Does Wales even have a football team?

Tossers isnt edited out before on this forum .
But that is what they where last night .
A bunch of tossers .....

Opps my fault ... left out a few stars "*" ... otherwise the quote is "as is" on the BBC web page. It seems pretty clear though that Humphrys was just pretty upset at England's loss. He wanted them to win as badly as an Englishman. So I guess that is commendable of him.

To be accurate, this is the word in its entirety as quoted in the BBC news article "t*****s". Hope that helps. cool

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by UK_Meets_USA on 2002-06-21 1654 ]</font>

Wales has a football team of course and in the past has had some pretty good players such as Mark Hughes, Ian Rush, Neville Southall and Micky Thomas. They never get it together enough though to actually qualify for anything.

They are very poorly run though by the Welsh FA who last time I looked were a bunch of petty, penny-pinchers who make the English F.A. look like angels.

Thanks Pilgrim.

I hope that didn't sound ignorant, but I knew their national sport was Rugby and I didn't know if they were even too bothered with footie.

Question #2

Does anyone know why the UK play separately in football, instead of playing as Great Britain or the United Kingdom? After all, in the Olympics we enter collectively.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by dianey on 2002-06-21 2209 ]</font>

Hey Pilgrim? You forgot that welshman Ryan Giggs or Robbie Savage!! :lol:
Mickey Thomas a good player? Have you lost your mind?!!! (only joking!!)Howabout Terry Yorath or John Toshack!!
Wasnt there talk of a UK football team at one point during the last olympics? but I think it fell on stoney ground?

You're right BOC - I did forget Giggsy-Wiggsy which is pretty unforgivable sad

Thomas was a card - complete joker who got kicked off the team so many times and then reinstated. He did have some magical moments though.

Yorath and Toshack were really a bit before I got into following footy. Just think, a few miles to the left and Michael Owen would be playing for Wales smile (Can you tell I was born about two miles inside the border but fortunately to English parents? I was born at the same maternity home as Kevin Ratcliffe actually - remember him?)

This talk of a UK team comes around now and again. It will never happen - the countries are far too independent where sport is concerned and Welsh and Scottish feel their players would not get a fair crack of the whip. At least how it is now, they get more chances to play in qualifiers at the very least.

The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Football Associations are the main issues here apparently with regards to one UK team. They are hung up on it - the feeling is that if club together for the Olympics then we will have to do it for Euro and World cups. They then worry that the plethora of great players from their nations (yeah right !!!) will never get to don the sacred British shirt, hence devaluing their game etc. However it all seems rather weird to me - Cardiff and the Welsh boys already play in England, so they should be swept up surely. That means we'll get Giggs to join the England team, he's English anyways !!! And Rangers and Celtic want to be in the Premiership so bad anyway. Hmmm, how many Scots would make the team. Someone, somewhere wants to have their cake and eat it (stupid phrase !!)

It was Giggs' choice to play for Wales - England weren't breaking down any doors when he was 17 to play for their first team, although he did play for England as a schoolboy which is a bit unsusual. At least he was born in Wales and grew up there unlike some others I could mention. (Just think, I too could have opted to play for Wales, having been born there and lived there two years more than Ryan!)

Wales really should qualify one day - they have some fairly good players drift in and out but no one seems able to harness them all together into a confident team that does enough to get to any finals.